Celtics go slow with Fab Melo

Author(s):

Mark Murphy

Fab Melo’s life is going to continue along a sweet and sour path. The 7-foot Brazilian is going to match the moments of progress with a step back, a dunk with a miss.

Melo was blocked twice at the rim by Detroit’s Viacheslav Kravtsov during the Celtics’ 93-63 blowout win over the Pistons in the Orlando summer league yesterday. He was also posterized by a massive Tony Mitchell tip-dunk.

But Melo also brought his teammates on the bench to their feet when he rocked the backboard with a late dunk.

“Fab is really liked by his teammates, and he’s a guy they really want to see succeed,” president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, perhaps Melo’s biggest supporter, said. “They see how hard he’s working every day.”

Melo’s biggest critic is gone. Former coach Doc Rivers eventually didn’t want to hear any question about Melo’s ability to actually contribute to the major league roster last season.

And Ainge isn’t making any promises now. Rookie first-round pick Kelly Olynyk is far more polished offensively. Even second-round selection Colton Iverson has a more active, hard-edged presence on the glass.

Melo, who appears to be following the standard route for a 7-footer drafted outside the lottery, has plenty of time, even if that means spending another season in the D-League with the Maine Red Claws.

He’s encouraged. The sweet part yesterday was his three charges. His new coach, Brad Stevens, noted each one from his baseline seat.

“I thought he played more physical today and was really engaged,” Stevens said. “I thought he had a few shots at the rim he would probably like to have back, and a couple of good finishes. He’s probably picked up the defensive stuff in the past year pretty well. He’s communicating, he’s trying to do the right thing. I spent some time at shootaround today talking with him about little things. He’s really engaged and he wants to be a good player.”

Indeed, he wants that moment to arrive in the next summer league game. Instead, there’s more sweet and sour in his future.

“I want everything fast, but I have good coaches with me,” Melo said. “They tell me how good I can be and how good I have to work.”

And slowly, ever so slowly, he senses the progress.

“It’s with my work every day,” he said. “You see improvement and you get better. You have to stay patient that things will come.”

Melo didn’t get off to a good start this summer. He appeared to be exhausted by halftime of his first game Sunday. At one stage, near the end of a six-minute shift, he struggled to get back across midcourt. He was quickly pulled out by assistant coach Jay Larranaga, who is running the team.

Larranaga later pinned some of Melo’s early trouble on nerves — the pressure from playing in his first game since April’s regular-season finale.

Ainge isn’t worried about a nervous second-year player.

“I didn’t see any nerves today,” Ainge said. “Most guys suffer from nerves when they’re not regular rotation players. Those nerves calm down when you play and play a lot of minutes, and you have rhythm. I think Fab has improved a lot, especially defensively. He contested a lot of shots, took three charges. I think he’s really progressing.

“Patience is important in developing everybody, bigs and smalls. Bigs may take a little longer, but he’s getting there.”